


The Feelings Get Deeper As You Turn The Pages

by richietoaster



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Brief Mention of Violence, Coming Out, M/M, Making Out, Richie protects Eddie, brief mention of homophobia if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:26:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25249141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/richietoaster/pseuds/richietoaster
Summary: "You protected me?”Richie laughs wetly, “I know you could handle yourself, but I rather that he hurt me than you,” and his words cause Eddie to affectionately reach out to grasp the side of Richie’s face, resting their foreheads together. Neither of them move, too struck by their sudden closeness.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak & Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 22
Kudos: 139
Collections: Bi Bi Bi. (And everything else), Reddie at its finest





	The Feelings Get Deeper As You Turn The Pages

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah i lowkey hate this but i've had a little writers block for the last two months so please dont bag on it too much lol

It’s kind of ridiculous, really. It’s pouring down rain and Eddie’s trying to climb a motherfucking tree to his best friend’s bedroom window. The branches are wet and he keeps slipping and  _ god  _ he’s gonna break his arm again, just like he did when he was thirteen.

Eddie steps up to the last limb of the stupid tree and raps at Richie’s window. Usually it’s Richie who does this. He climbs up to Eddie’s window, nearly every night. And they fall asleep together in Eddie’s bed, their legs almost always tangled. Eddie doesn’t think this will be one of those nights, although he wants it to be like that all the time. He thinks that Richie might actually kick him out, if he gets upset about why Eddie’s come in the first place.

There’s no response at first, and he knocks louder. “Listen, dickhead, I’m pretty sure I’m about to fall so if you could open your goddamn window that’d be-” The window is propped open before he can finish his sentence.

“Hi.” Richie says quietly, his voice smaller than Eddie’s ever heard it. The dark around his eye shimmers from the streetlight. Eddie bites back from commenting on it. He’ll get to that later.

“Hey.” Eddie responds and swallows the lump in his throat. “Help me in?” 

Richie rolls his eyes, cracking a grin, and reaches out to pull Eddie into his bedroom. “Dude, you’re soaked. Are you cold?”

“I’m fine.” Actually, Eddie is cold. But he refuses to admit that because he’s here to talk to Richie, not make this about himself. He watches Richie sit down on his bed. Eddie doesn’t think that this is  _ his  _ Richie. Technically, Richie isn’t his at all. That’s not the point, though. The point is, Richie’s not acting like his usual hyper, silly, fun self. “Do you wanna tell me what’s going on?” Eddie sits on the bed, across from him, and peels off his jacket, tossing it to the floor.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Richie says, shrugging, and not looking up from their touched knees. “Nothing’s going on, Eds.” 

Eddie sighs deeply, “I know you’re lying.” He pokes at Richie’s arm, “You know you can talk to me about anything, right?” 

“Of course.. But why are you acting like you know something?” 

He blinks at Richie’s words. He didn’t think he was being  _ that  _ obvious. He knows that Bowers still picks on him from time to time. It’s the harsh reality of Henry being held back for the second year in a row. They can’t even formally enjoy their senior year. Eddie reaches up to gently brush his fingertips against Richie’s black eye and watches him flinch under his touch. “Rich..” Eddie mutters. “I heard what Henry said to you today.”

“Wh-What?” There’s a certain look in Richie’s eyes. One that looks like it’s screaming. A flash of something unknown. 

And then Eddie figures it out: it’s fear. He realizes that Richie’s afraid of him knowing what went down between him and Bowers.

“Well, not  _ everything. _ But a lot. And what you said to him isn’t true. You don’t deserve to be treated like that. Why did you offer for him to punch you? Why did you let him hurt you?” Eddie tries to touch Richie’s bruise again but he pulls back. Richie never recoils like that. Eddie’s always been able to look at him when he’s gotten into fights. “Richie, please.”

“What do you want me to say?” Richie asks, “He just heard an ugly rumor about me and it gave him more of a reason to wanna beat the shit out of me.” 

“It’s just a rumor.” Eddie shakes his head. “That doesn’t give him the right to hurt you. Nothing does.What’s even the rumor? Probably something stupid, right?”

“But what if it’s not a rumor? What if it’s true?”

Eddie shrugs. “So what? You think just because a rumor is true about you, that Henry can just beat your face in?”

Richie deflects. “I was protecting you.” He pauses, and Eddie notices he’s begun to cry. “He was under the impression that you’re gay, and apparently didn’t like that. So I told him that it’s not you who’s gay; it’s me.” Richie points to his eye, showing him that that is the result of what he told Henry. 

“Why would you lie?” Eddie grabs Richie’s hand, squeezing it.

“Lie about what?”

“Your sexuality, just to protect me?” 

Richie swallows, “Well, it’s not a lie.”

Eddie blinks in surprise, not really knowing what to say, Richie just fucking  _ came out  _ to him. He thinks he could be honest, too. “Well, neither was his impression of me.. Although I don’t know where he got it from.. You  _ protected  _ me?” 

Richie laughs wetly, “I know you could handle yourself, but I rather that he hurt me than you,” and his words cause Eddie to affectionately reach out to grasp the side of Richie’s face, resting their foreheads together. Neither of them move, too struck by their sudden closeness. Richie whispers, “I know why he thought you were gay.”

“Why’s that?” Eddie asks, eyes closed.

“Because.. because I carved our initials into the kissing bridge.. He thought you were the one who carved it.”

Eddie’s eyes snap open and he can’t help the feel of his heart swell, can’t help the urge to kiss Richie. So he makes the decision to do it. He angles his head and leans in, letting his lips barely touch Richie’s, letting him have the option to back out if he didn’t want it, too, but Richie doesn’t back out. Instead, his hands grip the loop on Eddie’s jeans tighter, pulling him into his lap, and slotting his mouth against Eddie’s. Richie grabs both of Eddie’s hands, removing them from his face, placing Eddie’s arms around his neck, and moving his own to wrap around Eddie’s waist.

Neither knows who does it first, but their lips are parting and tongues are slipping into the other’s mouth. Warm, safety, comfort.. It’s what they find in each other. They’re entangled with one another and it just feels so right. Eddie’s been dreaming of this moment since he was a young, dumb teen, with uncontrollable thoughts he couldn’t shake away. But now he doesn’t have to shake them away, because it’s happening. It’s happening and he can’t really believe it but it  _ is  _ and  _ holy shit  _ Richie’s lips are super fucking soft? He always imagined them being rougher, but he’s glad that he has proved his imagination.

Eddie pushes up to kneel, knees on other side of Richie’s thighs, hands once again his cheeks. He puts his weight all onto Richie and lets them fall onto the mattress. The two of them laugh, hands clasping over their mouths, trying to keep quiet, but now the moment passes.

“This wasn’t something that just happened randomly and only once, was it?” Richie asks, and Eddie can hear him gulp.

“I hope not. My prepubescent self had wished every night for this to happen.” 

Richie nose-exhales, knowing they're on the same page. “I meant what I said, Eds. I rather me hurt than you.”

“I know you’re stubborn, so.. Thank you..” Eddie smiles and looks between them, where Richie is reaching up to grab his chin, pulling him into a sweet, quick and closed-mouth kiss. “Is this the part where you become my hero and we live happily ever after?”

Richie grins, “I hope so.”

**Author's Note:**

> read my [series!!!](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1711792)
> 
> [ FOLLOW ME ON MY TUMBLR](https://richietoaster.tumblr.com/)
> 
> please leave me a nice comment. i could use the encouragement to get back into the swing of things!!!


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